The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About15 - 2008-2009 Cultural Arts GrantsCITY OF NEWPORT BEACH CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT Agenda Item No. 15 July 22, 2008 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: LIBRARY SERVICES Cynthia Pirtle, Library Services Director; Arts and Cultural Services Division (949) 717 -3810, cpirtleA city. newport- bea ch. ca. us ; Jana Barbier, Cultural Arts Coordinator (949) 717 -3870, Ibarbiericity.newport- beach.ca.us SUBJECT: 2008/2009 Cultural Arts Grants RECOMMENDATION: Approve recommended recipients for FY 2008/2009 Cultural Arts Grants as selected by the City Arts Commission in accordance with City Policy 1 -12 — Reserve Fund for Culture and Arts. DISCUSSION: BACKGROUND: The City Arts Commission has recommended awarding grants totaling $40,000. The Commission received written grant proposals from eleven organizations for funding of approximately $62,840 in free cultural programming for the Newport Beach community. After careful deliberation the following recommendations were approved at the June 10, 2008 meeting: The Baroque Music Festival, a locally produced fully - professional musical performance venture in the City of Newport Beach, will be held in June of 2009. In 2009, there will be an international observance of the 250"' anniversary of the death of the George Friederich Handel. The Baroque Music Festival will engage America's finest musicians, who play historical period instruments for each of the five concerts: concerto program, organ recital, vocal and instrumental chamber concerts in the Gardens, and the dramatic Festival Finale for soloists, chorus and orchestra. The festival will include the most lively music that Handel wrote for the Duke of Chandos, royal occasions on the River Thames and in Westminster Abbey, and for London theaters and concert halls. The City of Newport Beach Arts Commission is dedicated to providing a range of free cultural programming that enriches the entire community, especially children and families. The Arts Commission sponsors multidisciplinary arts programs funded by the Cultural Grant Program such as the Concerts in the Parks Series, arts lectures and visual art exhibitions mounted in Central Library and at City Hall. The Arts Commission intends to extend the range of arts programming by funding programs such as the Shakespeare by the Sea festival, Imagination Celebration of Orange County and other public art projects. Festival Ballet Theatre will bring its `Ballet to Schools" program to two Newport Beach Elementary Schools in November /December 2008. They will perform a narrated, abbreviated version of the Nutcracker, tailored for children ranging in age from five to fourteen years old. The presentation will include pre - performance dance demonstrations complemented with interesting facts about ballet and the arts. Immediately following the actual performance, children will have the opportunity to converse with the professionals through a post - performance question and answer section. The Newport Beach Film Festival is planning a one -day educational industry seminar program, similar to the 2008 series, to be held on the first Saturday during the Festival, tentatively scheduled for April 25, 2009 at a Newport Beach location. Past seminar topics have included directing, screenwriting, production design, cinematography, film music composer, animation and special effects. Artists of past seminars include Elmer Bemstien (To Kill a Mockingbird,) John Waters (Polyester,) Don Burgess (Castaway,) John Landis (Twilight Zone,) and Judiann Makovsky (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone). The Festival Seminar Series attracts a wide variety of people with a strong representation of students, seniors, film experts, avid fans, and novice filmmakers. Ages span from 13 to 85. The seminar program intends to serve approximately 800 people. In 2007, the Festival expanded its outreach to colleges and high school students. The Kids' Art Station is a year -round public art program offered for children in the grades of K-6 located in the Education Center of the East Wing Gallery that currently runs on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:OOam — 3:OOpm and is made possible by support of the Museum and participant donations. The average length of time of participation is fifteen minutes to an hour, with many recurring visitors. Depending on the project content and optimum scheduling, the museum will select appropriate times to conduct the program, e.g. weekends, after school and vacation periods. By designating a space in the Museum, they secure a consistent location for community members to participate in art education. The Museum is determined to create a reliable, sustainable and significant art program for the community. The Pacific Symphony offers a variety of programs designed to integrate the Symphony and its music into the Orange County community. Although the programs are quite varied in their specific content, they share four guiding principles: 1) to provide participants with multiple, deep interactions with Symphony musicians and instructors; 2) to serve a diverse group of participants; 3) to serve primarily Orange County residents; 4) to encourage cross - promotion among all educational programs, thus providing life -long engagement with the Symphony. Through these programs, the Symphony reaches more than 100,000 people annually. In recent 2 years the Pacific Symphony has partnered with the Arts Commission and City of Newport Beach to present free concerts in the park, chamber concerts at Oasis Senior Center and educational presentations for young children and their families at the Central Library. Philharmonic Society of Orange County $2,000 Meet the Musicians is a program designed for 4 — 6' graders. In Meet the Musicians, professional brass, woodwind, string and percussion groups visit elementary schools to perform for the students. Musicians also give demonstrations of their instruments and finish each performance with a question and answer session. The duration of each program is 45 minutes. Ensembles on Tour is a similar program, but it is designed to appeal to middle school students. This program features professional groups performing for the whole student body a variety of music styles and instrumentations. The Meet the Musicians and Ensembles on Tour programs are brought to the children of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Each school is on a rotating groups schedule so that each year the students will have the opportunity for a new experience. In response to strong positive feedback from area educators, SCR has decided to revive a unique, three -year cycle of specially commissioned plays that chronicle major events in California history. This program, known as California Stones, provides students with a vibrant introduction to live theatre through a fusion of song, performance and story that captures the imagination of young audiences. The three -year program focuses on the California State Framework for Social Sciences, producing valuable educational tools to supplement classroom studies. As in years past, a free study guide will be provided to all teachers whose students attend a performance. These guides conform to the existing California curricular standards for Social Sciences and are designed to stimulate discussion about the play's themes and suggest related activities for the classroom. In 2009, the Educational Touring Production will present the first of three plays in the California Stones series, "Indian Summer" — a play that explores an early chapter in California history — a time when California was still struggling to define itself. "Indian Summer" links directly to the Social Studies curriculum and will follow a young boy's journey while living within a tribe of Native Americans in Central California in 1850. Southland Opera $2,000 Southland Opera proposes to perform one performance of "Stories Come Alive" in each of the elementary schools in the City of Newport Beach, along with one performance at another Newport Beach public venue, such as Central Library. Highlighted fairy tales and stories are Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast and Hansel and Gretel. The programs encourage reading and introduce young people to opera and musical theater and also demonstrate how composers often used children's fairy tales as the story line for their opera or musical. STOP -GAP is seeking funds to support the tour of an important play related to violence. "LIFELINE" deals with the issue of teen dating relationships that are controlling and have the potential of becoming violent. LIFELINE has been constantly requested by schools in Orange County, who indicate that the subject is of particular challenge to their youth. Funding from the City of Newport Beach will allow STOP -GAP to perform plays reaching up to 500 students in Newport Beach. The performances will take place within the 2008 -2009 academic year starting immediately upon receipt of funds. LIFELINE is STOP -GAP's interactive Touring Play that examines domestic violence and the surrounding emotional and social issues. Using the power of interactive theatre, LIFELINE inspires awareness and understanding of domestic violence issues in diverse audiences throughout our community. Submitted by: d,yAthia Pirtle, Library Services Director J n arbier, Cultural Arts Coordinator (949) 717 -3870 0